The causation of sex : a new theory of sex based on clinical materials ; together with chapters on the sex of the unborn child, and on the determination of sex at will / by E. Rumley Dawson.

  • Dawson, E. Rumley (Ernest Rumley), -1918.
Date:
1909
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: The causation of sex : a new theory of sex based on clinical materials ; together with chapters on the sex of the unborn child, and on the determination of sex at will / by E. Rumley Dawson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    102 THE CAUSATION OF SEX ovary be removed, some ovarian tissue is still left behind in the pedicle stump. If the pedicle be long, owing to stretching and dragging out of the ovarian ligament by a tumour, we cannot say how far along it ovarian tissue extends, and so we are quite likely to leave some ovarian tissue in it when we divide it to remove the tumour ; if the pedicle be short, as Doran ^ says, the operator rightly dreads slipping of the ligature, and so is apt to make it too long and leave a piece of ovary behind. Dr. J. Halliday Croom ^ confirms this : he says, it is often difficult to state for certain that the whole of the ovary has been removed ; a small portion may be left in the pedicle. In cases of ovariotomy performed during pregnancy. Dr. W. Walter^ says— the closer to the uterine wall the pedicle was ligatured, the greater the chance of irritation (of the uterus) resulting in miscarriage, hence the pedicle was secured as far from the uterine wall as safety permitted.'' Here we see a reason why ovarian tissue is sometimes left behind in the pedicle, and a case published by Baldwin^ proves it. The patient was pregnant. She had two ovarian cysts, which— had become adherent, but the tumours were distinct, and each had quite a long pedicle. Owing to the known fact of her pregnancy, care was taken to avoid any manipulation of the uterus.'' The tumours were removed. She has had two other children since the operation, but the sex is not given. It is evident that some ovarian tissue was not reinoved^ for though both ovarian tumours were removed, she became pregnant twice after the operation, and I maintain that those children were of the same sex if the ovarian tissue was left on one side only ; had some been left on both sides, then it is possible she had children of both sexes—that is, either pigeon- paired twins, or else male and female children at different ' Doran, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, vol. ii., 1902, p. 7. ^ Halliday Croom in Allbutt and Playfair's Gynaecology, p. 343. ® Dr. W. Walter, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, January 1903, vol. iii. p. 93. ^ Baldwfin, op. cit., vol. iii., March 1903, p. 264.